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Sometimes you just gotta have Chinese Food: Shin Mun Gak

Friday, May 21, 2010

신문각 I love the signage.

I don't know why, but sometimes I just get a craving for Chinese food. Growing up, Saturday was Chinese Food day. We would head over every week and put in our take-out order at the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant. When I was a boy in Delaware (now I'm going to make myself sound like a dinosaur), Chinese food was just getting popular and the Great Wall was the hottest spot in town. In my family, we all had our favorites. Mom liked the Lomein, Jill liked the General Tso's Chicken, I liked the Beef and Broccoli, and Dad liked the pork fried rice. We would always get the sweet and sour soup, an extra box of rice, fortune cookies, and the fried dough things they served with peach colored "duck" sauce.

In Korea, I get cravings for American Chinese food, but it's hard to find. I mean there is Ho Lee Chow, but it's not the same. I am developing a taste for Korean Chinese food and I found this great little hole in the wall by Gwanghwanmun Station. It's down an alley as you head to the Seoul National History Museum (서울역사박물관). It's called Sinmun gak and they've been at that location for 20 years. The black noodles are good and so is the shrimp fried rice.

Shin Mun Gak (신문각)
736-3289
736-0865

My theory for finding good restaurants is: the older, the better.

I love Shrimp Fried Rice

Their Jjajamyeon (black noodles) are great.

Man, this place hasn't been renovated in like 20 years. I love the cans of ketchup just sitting out.

Dumplings.

Plates

Black Noodles

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About me

Daniel Gray is a Korean-American Adoptee that returned to Korea in 2005 to rediscover his roots. He is a Korean food expert that has appeared on Bizarre Foods, Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain and more. He does food tours, events, and consulting in Seoul and owns two restaurants: Brew 3.14 and Brew 3.15 in Seoul.